The accused allegedly posed as employees of a private diagnostic centre and collected swab samples from Sinha last week. (Representational)

Three men were arrested in Kolkata late on Friday for allegedly duping a 57-year-old bank manager last week by giving him a fake test report that declared him Covid-negative, the police said on Saturday. The man succumbed to the disease a few days later.

Police sources said two of those arrested are brothers Biswajit and Indrajit Sikdar. They are lab technicians in government hospitals. The third, Anit Paira, runs a physiotherapy centre.

The accused allegedly posed as employees of a private diagnostic centre and collected swab samples from Sinha last week. The matter came to light after Sinha’s wife, Seema, registered a police complaint on July 30. According to sources, the accused allegedly charged Sinha Rs 2,000 and provided a false, handwritten report on an ICMR form. Other medical institutions rejected it. After the family filed a complaint, probe revealed the report was fake.